July 20, 2012

All of the latest news from The Churchill Centre UK. 

In Memoriam. We record with regret the recent death of member Lloyd Thomas (Emsworth) at the age of 91. He was an avid collector of Churchilliana, much of which will be auctioned shortly (see below).

Auction. The auction of ‘Tom’ Thomas’s collection of Churchilliana will take place at Stride & Son, Southdown House, St John’s Street [between East Street and Market Avenue], Chichester on Friday 28th September 2012. Details will be published on Stride & Son’s website on Friday 21st September and viewing dates are Monday 24th – Friday 28th September. The WSC items will be sold at an unspecified time during a general sale which starts at 10.00 am. Contact details are www.strideauctions.co.uk and 01243-780207. Among the lots for sale are a three-piece suit, signed letters and hundreds of other items of memorabilia. As an interesting footnote ‘Tom’ Thomas named his house Savrola – not included in the auction.

Reception. Deadline for this TCC-UK event at the House of Commons on Thursday 6th September (7.30 pm – 9.30 pm) has already passed, but members who have not yet applied may still do so by making early contact with the Executive Director (details below). It is hoped that Lady Soames will attend, in time for members to wish her a Happy 90th Birthday (15th September).

2025 International Churchill Conference

Join us for the 42nd International Churchill Conference. Washington, DC | October 9-11, 2025

2025 International Churchill Conference

29th International Churchill Conference. This year’s conference, organised by ICS (Canada), will take place in Toronto on 11th-13th October. The theme of the conference is The States and Canada – Foe to Friend; among the many speakers will be the Hon Celia Sandys, former Canadian prime minister John Turner and Finest Hour editor Richard Langworth. Full conference details and application form can be obtained from the Executive Director (details below).

Churchillian Award Dinner. This year’s event, at the Grosvenor Square Marriott Hotel, will take place on Thursday 25th October, when the recipient and keynote speaker will be BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson CBE. This is TCC-UK’s main fund-raising activity, and tickets are priced accordingly at £500 a head, but we are able to offer a special 40% discount for individual members wishing to attend. Those interested should contact the Executive Director (details below).

Churchill Debate. The London School of Economics will stage a Churchill debate in association with TCC-UK on Wednesday 21st November. The motion for discussion is “Churchill was more of a progressive than a reactionary” and speakers will include Lord Hurd of Westwell, Piers Brendon and John Charmley. This event is free and open to the public and we can only reserve a limited number of places; members should contact the Executive Director (details below) if they wish to attend, which might involve names being placed on a reserve list.

WSC Bronze. The bronze, commissioned by the Ministry of Defence for presentation to the Pentagon and sponsored by member Paul Duffen, is in the final stages of completion by leading sculptress Vivien Mallock; unveiling in Washington DC is now expected to be in January or February 2013. It is hoped that the bronze will be displayed in Whitehall before being flown across the Atlantic, in which case members will be notified. Should this occur before the next issue of Notice Board, members who have booked tickets for the reception at the House of Commons on 6th September will be notified (should it be ready by that date); all members on the E-mail list will also be informed, but any member outside these two categories who wishes to be notified is asked to inform the Editor (details below).

Oxford University. The Department of Continuing Education is arranging a five-day course to take place at Christ Church from 30th June till 6th July 2013, titled The Age of Churchill. The course considers WSC’s political career as a reflection of the profound political and social change which took place over his lifetime. WSC’s monumental contribution as a political, radical chronicler, anti-totalitarian campaigner and war leader in the period from Victorian times to the Cold War will be explored through the study of his life and writings. This fascinating programme, planned to a high academic standard, could be of great interest to many members. Full details are not yet available, but anyone wishing to be kept informed is asked to notify the Editor (details below).

Two-Person Show. The Hon Celia Sandys and Robert Hardy took to the stage in Winchester on.31st May when they read letters between WSC and CSC in a one-night show, well timed as a Diamond Jubilee appetiser. As might have been expected, it was a tour de force and much appreciated by the audience.

Debate. The officer cadets at RMA Sandhurst staged a debate on 26th June. The motion, was that “for good or ill, air mastery is today the supreme expression of military power”. This was a statement made by WSC in an important speech at Boston in 1949. Despite some well-argued opinions that, whereas the remark was no doubt valid in 1949, it was not necessarily true today, the motion was carried. Fourteen TCC-UK members took up the invitation to attend, preceded by a guided tour and followed by supper with officer cadets and staff in the Indian Army Memorial Room. Because WSC had been a gentleman cadet at the former Royal Military College, the Commandant of RMA Sandhurst is one of TCC-UK’s ex-officio honorary members and it is hoped that further links can be fostered in future. (Four officer cadets were guests at last year’s London conference.). The evening was much enjoyed by all.

Burma. Lord Marland, chairman of TCC-UK’s Board of Trustees, and Parliamentary Under Secretary-of-State for Energy & Climate Change, recently visited Burma; while there he presented the 2012 Churchillian Award to Aung San Suu Kyi.

Simon Ward. Members will have been sorry to read of the recent death of actor Simon Ward, who starred as WSC in the film Young Winston.

Great Contemporaries. This re-issued book has now been published by ISI Books in the United States. Edited by Jim Muller, it contains thirty essays by WSC, five more than the previous publication in 1938. What makes this book important is that WSC’s text is accompanied by 1,239 footnotes, unnecessary in 1938, but now almost indispensable to the modern reader who might be puzzled by long-forgotten names, or obscure places and events. It is hoped to advise the best method of purchase in the next issue of Notice Board; meanwhile, Amazon (US) is thought to be much cheaper than Amazon (UK).

Executive Director: 01223-336175 [email protected] Editor: 01264-889627 [email protected]